Pressing Specific Actions toward North Korean Non-Proliferation

Merely restarting the six-party talks has no meaning. It is crucial to keep pressing specific actions for North Korea to take in order for there to be substantial progress toward a non-nuclear Korean Peninsula.

Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan held a meeting on the island of Bali in Indonesia and announced a joint statement.

According to the statement, in order for the six-party talks to resume, North Korea must make efforts for “sincere and constructive inter-Korean dialogue.” It must also “take concrete steps to demonstrate a genuine commitment to denuclearization.”

Last year, North Korea sunk a South Korean military patrol boat, shelled Yongpyong Island and went so far as to proclaim that it has engaged in uranium enriching activities.

It doesn’t make sense to restart the six-party talks as if none of this had happened. North Korea promising to take specific steps to abandon its nuclear program should be the very minimum requirement.

In this regard, the inter-Korean dialogue should come first. Next is the American-North Korean negotiations, and then we can say that restarting the six-party talks is appropriate according to the Japanese-American-South Korean “three steps.”

North Korea had previously taken a stubborn stance saying that, “we will not work with Lee Myung-Bak’s South Korea.” However, after two years and seven months, it accepted a high-level meeting with South Korea. The trials of continued economic distress turned the helm toward opting for dialogue.

Vehemently criticizing other countries, only to make an abrupt change, is North Korea’s conventional mode of action. Overreactions are forbidden. Cool and composed support is necessary to strengthen the unity of the Japan-America-South Korea alliance.

The role of the chairman to the six-party talks, China, is huge. It is China’s duty not only to watch the situation, but to persuade North Korea to compromise.

Since last year, Japan, America and South Korea have expanded military cooperation with activities like the joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea with the Self Defense Force participating as an observer. This kind of cooperation is important to stave off North Korean provocation.

The foreign ministers’ statement also called for North Korea to “take actions to resolve the abduction … issues.”

The abduction issue has been tied up since September 2008 when North Korea disregarded a promise to reopen investigations.　

In the middle of this month, Minister Kansei Nakano, the minister in charge of abduction issues, visited South Korea and participated in an exchange of ideas with South Korea’s Unification Minister Hyun In-Taek. The ability to hold this kind of conference is a benefit of improved Japanese-South Korean relations under the Lee administration.

New presidential elections are planned for November of next year in America and December of next year in South Korea. Now, in this climate of strong cooperation, is the opportunity for the Japan-America-South Korea alliance to use all its strength to deliver concrete results to the North Korean problem.